There are a number of high-stake poker matches that take place in places like Macau and Las Vegas that are kept very low profile and receive no media coverage. This is because the players want to remain anonymous, the hosts want to keep their location confidential and no one wants to publicize the amounts being traded at the table.
On the 25th of Jan, things were different a little different at the Bellagio in Las Vegas when Todd Brunson, a high-stakes professional player decided to challenge Andy Beal, a Texan billionaire to a high-stakes poker match valued at $5 million.
The match took place at Bobby’s Room at the Bellagio and attracted a lot of attention.
Poker pro Kyle Loman was present at the occasion and stated that the match was played with a heads-up hold’em format and the stakes ranged between $50,000-$100,000. The players used pink Bellagio chips to play and it was Todd Brunson who took at the chips in the end.
Doyle Brunson, the father of Todd and 10 time WSOP bracelet winner was also present to watch his son play and end up winning $5 million.
Once the match was over, both Brunson and Beal pumped fists and parted ways amicably.
While $5 million is a lot of money, it will not make a huge difference as Beal is a tycoon who has an extremely lucrative business. Beal has a history of taking on some of the best poker players in the world and losing huge sums of cash. Between 2004 and 2006, Beal challenged a group of players which included the likes of the Jennifer Harman, the Brunsons and poker legend Phil Ivey.
Beal has not had a lot of success playing the pros and reportedly lost as much as $16 million in a single match against Phil Ivey. Since then, Beal has avoided getting involved in high-stakes poker matches and has gone on record to say he given up playing poker. Beal looks to have broken his resolution in 2015 and might once again be looking to take on some of the best poker pros in the business.
Todd Brunson looked extremely happy after winning $5 million and decided to celebrate by going to dinner. He later tweeted
We came to a nice steak house without a reservation. Big line. They asked if we were celebrating anything. I said yes I won 5 mil yesterday
— Todd Brunson (@ToddBrunson) January 26, 2015
